1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical-waveguide sensor chip, a method of manufacturing the optical-waveguide sensor chip, a method of measuring a substance, a substance-measuring kit and an optical-waveguide sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally in conventional immunological assays by using antigen-antibody reaction, primary antibodies corresponding to the analyte such as protein in the analyte sample are immobilized on the surface of a well-shaped substrate. Particular amounts of an analyte sample solution, a secondary antibody solution, and a coloring reagent are added dropwise to the well sequentially. After dropwise addition of each solution, the well is washed with a particular washing water. These immunological assays are thus carried out in complicated procedure demanding addition and discharge of these reagents while weighed by the operator. These immunological assays demand an analyte sample in an amount of at least 5 μL to about 25 μL.
WO2005/022155 filed by the applicant discloses a concentration-determining method and a sensor chip demanding an analyte sample in an amount of 1 μL and allowing measurement of the concentration of the analyte substance in the analyte sample even when the volume of the analyte sample is inaccurate.
However, conventional immunological assays demand almost one hour for reaction between the primary antibody and the analyte sample and also for reaction between the analyte sample and the secondary antibody, leading to the complicated procedure described above. Accordingly, it takes as long as several hours to perform a series of procedure from collection of the analyte sample to completion of measurement. In addition, the amount of the analyte sample needed is large, and, for example in the case of blood test by using a small animal such as rat, one animal should be sacrificed for one examination of a few kinds of test items. As a result, it is often difficult to monitor change over time in the same sample.